Officials talk about events in Newtown

The images from the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. have brought the nation to tears, including local educators and school officials.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

The images from the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. have brought the nation to tears, including local educators and school officials.“Watching the coverage over the weekend, I cried,” said Fred Osborn, Inland Lakes Schools’ superintendent. “It just rips your heart out to think about those kids and the staff and all the families.”Twenty-six innocent people dead, 20 of which were children from 6-7 years old. “I don’t think you can even say anything good can come out of something like this, but if it could, how many people hugged their kids a little tighter over the weekend or made a call to tell their kids they love them,” Osborn said. “It makes you stop and think.”The reaction has been the same for school officials across the board, heart ache at the loss of defenseless children, admiration for the heroic teachers and staff that gave their lives trying to save them, and the unthinkable pain so many Connecticut family members are enduring.“Its impossible to comprehend,” said Mark Dombroski, Cheboygan Area Schools superintendent. “To attack to most defenseless members of society, its impossible to understand. It just tears your heart out.”“Its terrible,” said Rod Fullerton, Onaway Area Community Schools’ superintendent. “Its one of those things you just can’t imagine.”For many, the instant reaction was to internalize the tragedy. “You think about your kids and your family,” Dombroski added. “You think about if something like that happened here, how you could live through something like that. Its terrible.”Moments of silence and vigils were held throughout the country over the weekend. When the school day began Monday, area schools honored the Sandy Hook victims with a moment of silence and reflection.“We had a moment of silence in our secondary building,” said Osborn. “With our younger kids, we shelter them from this as much as we can.”School shootings are all tragic, but there is something especially heart wrenching about the death of small children. “There is a lot we need to look at, not just as educators, but as a society,” said Osborn. “How we keep our kids safe and how we treat those in our society that need treatment.”